Events around the area and schools on tap for 40th anniversary
Whether it’s the spring weather or an invigorated spirit of preservation, young and old alike have been spending the past week gearing up for the annual observance of Earth Day.
April 22 will mark the 40th celebration of Earth Day, which is now observed across much of the world. While those across the Town of Bethlehem and Capital District will be recognizing the day in many ways, Earth Week, running from April 16 until Earth Day, is nearly over.
The week of activities was kicked off at Clarksville Elementary with an Earth Day Fair. This was the second year the school has invited area groups into the gymnasium to set up activities, games and learning stations for the school’s more than 200 students, said parent and PTA member Amy Price.
It’s about education and fun, she said. `They’re learning how to be creative and conservational.`
Hannaford Supermarkets was present to hand out reusable shopping bags, and various arms of the Department of Environmental Conservation were teaching kids about the state’s varied natural resources. A Cornell Cooperative Extension representative had set up a bicycle that could power a bank of light bulbs.
Local operation Wildlife Alive brought to the fair a number of owls and other rehabilitated birds. Michele Segerberg and Bob Shoemaker run the operation out of Clarksville, where they nurse injured birds back to health. Those who can’t be reintroduced back into the wild are often used for educational purposes.
The Stormwater Coalition of Albany County and the Northeastern Cave Conservancy were also at the fair.
Earth Day activities:
Deputy Supervisor John Smolinsky will host a ceremony on the lawn of Bethlehem Town Hall (indoors in event of rain) on Earth Day at 10 a.m. He’ll speak on the subject of renewing the area in front of Town Hall with plantings of sustainable species.
A storm-damaged tree was recently removed from the area, and town officials feel it’s time to spruce up the front lawn.
`This is kind of a renewal opportunity,` said Supervisor Sam Messina. `My feeling is Bethlehem should be doing something for Earth Day ever year.`
The Bethlehem Highway Department will be completing the work once garden planners have finalized a design.
Opportunities to improve the Town of Bethlehem will be provided all summer long through the town’s Community Cleanup Days, the first of which took place Saturday, April 17, and will continue on the third Saturday of the month through October.
Volunteers should report to the Bethlehem Town Hall parking lot at 9 a.m. to be issued supplies. Different parts of town will be targeted each Saturday until noon. In the evetn of rain, Cleanup Day will be cancelled.
Earth Day will be celebrated on Saturday, April 24, at the Pine Bush Preserve. From 9 a.m. to noon, volunteers will perform a number of upkeep tasks all around the 3,100-acre preserve. Come with work clothes and drinking water.
Fifth-grade students at Hamagrael Elementary will be spending part of Thursday planting 30 seedlings that were obtained through the Department of Environmental Conservation.
At Clarksville Elementary, first-graders will be collecting empty cans and bottles to recycle. Proceeds will be donated to the Onesquethaw Food Pantry.
Students from the Clarksville Elementary Green Club will be traveling to the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center April 30, Arbor Day, for a lesson on stream tables.
Students in Mrs. Dolen’s 6th-grade science class will use Earth Day to calculate their ecological footprint with www.ecofoot.org. Middle schoolers will also kick off a composting project during Earth Week.
John Abbuhl will lead a `Tour of the Magnolias` in the Pine Hollow Arboretum Saturday, April 24, at 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 25, at 1 p.m. Free for members, $10 for nonmembers. Reservations required. See pinehollowarboretum.blogspot.com for more information.
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